The Market Sees a Monday Sell Off

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Traders work in the crude oil options pit this morning. Following a global sell-off, the stock market plunged on opening bell and oil prices fell to around $63 a barrel.

Stock prices fell again on Monday as evidence of a global slowdown continues to build.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 223.73 points to 8273.58. The NASDAQ composite index lost 34.80 points to 1482.05 and the S&P 500 stock index dropped 22.54 points to 850.75.

The declines of 2.5 % continued to push stocks lower for all of 2008. The S&P 500 is down 42 % this year and is on track to its worst year since 1931.

Among local stocks: Qualcomm fell $1.29 to $31.65; Realty Income lost 99 cents to $18.24; and, Gen-Probe declined $1.48 to $41.38.

The trigger for the market decline on Monday was an announcement from Citigroup that it will cut as many as 53,000 jobs in the near-term.Combined with other cits, the world's largest bank has now reduced payrolls by 75,000 this year. Shares of Citigroup fell 63 cents to $8.89, the lowest close since May 1996.

The recession fears continued to erode oil prices. Crude fell $2.09 to $54.95 a barrel, a new 22-month low.